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Hellbent
After getting hit by a truck and sent straight to Hell where boring books and radio programs fill his day, Conor decides to take control of his fate, rid himself of his demon tormentor named Clarence, and find some like-minded souls, interested in video games and cute girls, somewhere in the midst of eternal damnation. Original.
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2005
9 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Anthony McGowan
89 books83 followersAnthony John McGowan is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark. In addition to his 2020 win, he has been twice longlisted (for The Knife That Killed Me in 2008 and Brock in 2014) and once shortlisted (for Rook in 2018) for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and is the winner of the 2006 Booktrust Teenage Prize for Henry Tumour.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 28, 2020
I have many boxes of unread books that I have collected over the years, that have begun to gather dust. Over this pandemic since book shops and libraries were closed, I used this as an opportunity to start working my way through these books and am halfway through one of the boxes. Some books I have been really excited to read, some I have dreaded. This book falls into the latter category. Just reading the blurb made me moan; this was definitely not my kind of book.
However very wrong I was.
Within the first few chapters I was hooked, McGowan is incredibly funny and I was laughing within the first few pages. The main character Conor is killed and sent to hell and spends the rest of the book trying to escape. On the surface it is a funny and gross take on hell. The front cover gives a warning that it is 'the most disgusting book you'll ever read', little did I know it really was. There are certain scenes that made me grimace but they were still hilarious at the same time.
McGowan also raises some really important topics that stay with you. There's one particular flashback at the end, which although I had guessed the events already, really pull at your heart strings and it was so sad to read. McGowan really makes you think about what makes you a good person and whether fate will always determine what we do or whether we have free choice to shape our futures. When I found out after that McGowan has a PhD in Philosophy it made a lot of sense.
I was really pleasantly surprised by this book and so glad I kept it for all of these years!
However very wrong I was.
Within the first few chapters I was hooked, McGowan is incredibly funny and I was laughing within the first few pages. The main character Conor is killed and sent to hell and spends the rest of the book trying to escape. On the surface it is a funny and gross take on hell. The front cover gives a warning that it is 'the most disgusting book you'll ever read', little did I know it really was. There are certain scenes that made me grimace but they were still hilarious at the same time.
McGowan also raises some really important topics that stay with you. There's one particular flashback at the end, which although I had guessed the events already, really pull at your heart strings and it was so sad to read. McGowan really makes you think about what makes you a good person and whether fate will always determine what we do or whether we have free choice to shape our futures. When I found out after that McGowan has a PhD in Philosophy it made a lot of sense.
I was really pleasantly surprised by this book and so glad I kept it for all of these years!
January 13, 2012
Rewriting Dante’s allegorical La Divina Commedia would be one hell of an ambitious endeavor (pardon the pun) for even the most accomplished of writers, so when you attempt something like that with your debut novel, you’d better have the right amount of skill, balls, wit and eschatological jokes at your disposal… turns out Anthony McGowan has all of those – something the cat already knew after reading Henry Tumour. Unfortunately, even though this novel starts out brilliantly, McGowan can’t keep up the sizzling & hilarious pace of it until the end of the ride.
Hellbent features 15-year-old Conor who’s ended up in hell after being run down by an ice cream truck. Turns out living your life like a normal teenager (a few fibs now and then and some other innocent enough teenage misdemeanor sins) might be enough to end up eternally in hell. For some hell is other people, but for Conor, Hell is boredom and being surrounded by classical music and educational books about history, philosophy, anthropology and so on. Though Conor is accompanied by his faithful – though completely useless – mutt of a dog Scrote (Arsecheese!), and assisted by his personal devil Clarence, it is the elusive Francesca who makes the most of an impression on Conor in his search for a way out of hell (it must be Love). Somewhere out there in the innermost circles of hell, there must be someone for whom Conor’s hell is like heaven, and obviously somewhere out there, there is someone whose own personal hell is Conor’s idea of heaven… It’s up to Conor to find a way out so he sets out on a adventure with Clarence and a Viking called Olaf.
Anthony McGowan clearly wants to make an impression with his debut: it’s comedy, it’s an adventure story, it’s an imaginative rewriting of a classic most kids will never have heard of and definitely an attempt at an almost philosophical treatise all in one. The cat wishes that books with eschatological humor, and existential references to the Divine Comedy had existed and had been so readily available when she was 15 (“Not suitable for younger children”, up yours!), because for the idea alone this is a book that deserves to be read. The raucous fart and zit jokes are just a bonus here… And the execution of it all starts off with a couple of laugh-out-loud funny scenes (prepare for the most hilariously funny fart story in a children’s or other book ever!). However, divine it ain’t… unlike in Henry Tumour, McGowan isn’t really able to sustain the level of intensity until the very end… Hell and Conor’s soul searching tend to become a little bit tedious.
Nevertheless, knowing what Hellbent led to (both Henry Tumour and The Knife that Killed Me are highly recommended!), the cat recognizes that McGowan’s take on the afterlife is a great first attempt. It sags at times, but has some great highs too. Kudos for telling it as it is: hell is shit, long live hell.
http://ringothecat.wordpress.com/
Hellbent features 15-year-old Conor who’s ended up in hell after being run down by an ice cream truck. Turns out living your life like a normal teenager (a few fibs now and then and some other innocent enough teenage misdemeanor sins) might be enough to end up eternally in hell. For some hell is other people, but for Conor, Hell is boredom and being surrounded by classical music and educational books about history, philosophy, anthropology and so on. Though Conor is accompanied by his faithful – though completely useless – mutt of a dog Scrote (Arsecheese!), and assisted by his personal devil Clarence, it is the elusive Francesca who makes the most of an impression on Conor in his search for a way out of hell (it must be Love). Somewhere out there in the innermost circles of hell, there must be someone for whom Conor’s hell is like heaven, and obviously somewhere out there, there is someone whose own personal hell is Conor’s idea of heaven… It’s up to Conor to find a way out so he sets out on a adventure with Clarence and a Viking called Olaf.
Anthony McGowan clearly wants to make an impression with his debut: it’s comedy, it’s an adventure story, it’s an imaginative rewriting of a classic most kids will never have heard of and definitely an attempt at an almost philosophical treatise all in one. The cat wishes that books with eschatological humor, and existential references to the Divine Comedy had existed and had been so readily available when she was 15 (“Not suitable for younger children”, up yours!), because for the idea alone this is a book that deserves to be read. The raucous fart and zit jokes are just a bonus here… And the execution of it all starts off with a couple of laugh-out-loud funny scenes (prepare for the most hilariously funny fart story in a children’s or other book ever!). However, divine it ain’t… unlike in Henry Tumour, McGowan isn’t really able to sustain the level of intensity until the very end… Hell and Conor’s soul searching tend to become a little bit tedious.
Nevertheless, knowing what Hellbent led to (both Henry Tumour and The Knife that Killed Me are highly recommended!), the cat recognizes that McGowan’s take on the afterlife is a great first attempt. It sags at times, but has some great highs too. Kudos for telling it as it is: hell is shit, long live hell.
http://ringothecat.wordpress.com/
December 17, 2010
Conor O’Neil was hit by an ice cream truck in his teenage prime – and he got sent immediately and straight to Hell. He wasn’t a particularly *bad* person, but he wasn’t a particularly good one either. He’s a few lies over the limit, he was mean to his sister, and he stood idly by and let another person kill himself by not intervening. All of that is, apparently, enough to be damned for all eternity.
Now, Hell is a very individually catered experience, as Conor finds out. He is assigned his own devil – Clarence – and is thrust into an environment designed specifically and uniquely to torment him. Surrounded by tomes of the philosophical greats, and little else, Conor is left to his own devices and nearly suffocates from the boredom that ensues. Then, he has a vision, a most lovely vision, and she gives him an idea. Obviously Hell gets all sorts of people, and among them there is someone whose personal Hell is Conor’s personal Heaven. All he has to do is break into Clarence’s office, hack into his computer, find that person, and then switch places with him. Easy.
Ok, not so easy. All sorts of things go wrong, and Conor and Clarence find themselves on the lam from the malebranche (a group of devils that mean to hunt them down and feed them to the Annihilator – a machine that literally eats souls). Their thrilling (and disgusting) journey to Gehenna is fraught with peril, but ultimately they attain it. And once they do, Conor is faced with something even more surprising.
This book was disgusting and horrible, philosophical and thoughtful, and even – occasionally – smart and funny. At first I hated it and put it down. Later, I picked it up and started reading again. When I reached the halfway point, I found that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Teenage guys should *love* this – particularly the gruesome bits and gratuitous violence (assuming they’re *that* sort of guys).
Now, Hell is a very individually catered experience, as Conor finds out. He is assigned his own devil – Clarence – and is thrust into an environment designed specifically and uniquely to torment him. Surrounded by tomes of the philosophical greats, and little else, Conor is left to his own devices and nearly suffocates from the boredom that ensues. Then, he has a vision, a most lovely vision, and she gives him an idea. Obviously Hell gets all sorts of people, and among them there is someone whose personal Hell is Conor’s personal Heaven. All he has to do is break into Clarence’s office, hack into his computer, find that person, and then switch places with him. Easy.
Ok, not so easy. All sorts of things go wrong, and Conor and Clarence find themselves on the lam from the malebranche (a group of devils that mean to hunt them down and feed them to the Annihilator – a machine that literally eats souls). Their thrilling (and disgusting) journey to Gehenna is fraught with peril, but ultimately they attain it. And once they do, Conor is faced with something even more surprising.
This book was disgusting and horrible, philosophical and thoughtful, and even – occasionally – smart and funny. At first I hated it and put it down. Later, I picked it up and started reading again. When I reached the halfway point, I found that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Teenage guys should *love* this – particularly the gruesome bits and gratuitous violence (assuming they’re *that* sort of guys).
November 17, 2012
Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
No one really knows if there is a Hell or Heaven. Is Heaven full of clouds and Hell as hot as a pizza oven? Unfortunately for Connor O'Neil, who knows exactly how it feels. It's not wonderful Heaven that he gets to experience firsthand, but rather the dreadful Hell. That's right! Connor has died and went to Hell. How? Well, by chasing after his dog and getting hit by an ice cream truck.
Of course Hell isn't what exactly how people had described it. It has changed over the years. There's still your usual furnaces and dungeons and creepy crawlers. But now Hell isn't too big on physical pain, since they have become more sophisticated. And they also call the unfortunate people who have to go to Hell their "customers." So Hell shouldn't seem too bad for Connor, right?
The worst has yet to come since now Connor is condemned to a corner surrounded by the worst thing ever--educational material. Books are all around him, along with radios blaring out educational programs. Everything fit for his eternal punishment.
Then Connor comes up with a plan, since everyone needs a plan. In order for him to survive Hell he needs to find someone that would absolutely enjoy his corner and trade. So now Connor is out to find the person that is willing to trade for his educational corner.
Witty and absolutely engrossing, Anthony McGowan has cooked up a novel that will make you burst out laughing. HELLBENT is exactly for anyone who needs something to lift them up. With crazy characters and a plot that is ultimately unusual, HELLBENT is a definite page-turner that will keep the reader up all night.
No one really knows if there is a Hell or Heaven. Is Heaven full of clouds and Hell as hot as a pizza oven? Unfortunately for Connor O'Neil, who knows exactly how it feels. It's not wonderful Heaven that he gets to experience firsthand, but rather the dreadful Hell. That's right! Connor has died and went to Hell. How? Well, by chasing after his dog and getting hit by an ice cream truck.
Of course Hell isn't what exactly how people had described it. It has changed over the years. There's still your usual furnaces and dungeons and creepy crawlers. But now Hell isn't too big on physical pain, since they have become more sophisticated. And they also call the unfortunate people who have to go to Hell their "customers." So Hell shouldn't seem too bad for Connor, right?
The worst has yet to come since now Connor is condemned to a corner surrounded by the worst thing ever--educational material. Books are all around him, along with radios blaring out educational programs. Everything fit for his eternal punishment.
Then Connor comes up with a plan, since everyone needs a plan. In order for him to survive Hell he needs to find someone that would absolutely enjoy his corner and trade. So now Connor is out to find the person that is willing to trade for his educational corner.
Witty and absolutely engrossing, Anthony McGowan has cooked up a novel that will make you burst out laughing. HELLBENT is exactly for anyone who needs something to lift them up. With crazy characters and a plot that is ultimately unusual, HELLBENT is a definite page-turner that will keep the reader up all night.
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November 19, 2010Hellbent is a novel written by Anthony McCowan about a boy named Connor O’Neil. He is a high school student who gets run over by an ice cream truck on his way home from school one day while saving his dog. The truck killed him and he is now stuck in hell with his talking dog. Connor is not a great student and hates books and anything that has to do with school. Because of that his hell is full of books and knowledge and he can’t stand it he is also accompanied by his own devil (Clara) and a drag Viking. He realizes his hell is also someone else’s heaven.
I liked some things and disliked some things in this book. Some things I liked were the author’s creative imagination and descriptions of Connors hell. It was basically a library with lots of other things he didn’t like and I thought it was great how it was described. I didn’t like how it tried to get a laugh out of everything even when it wasn’t a funny area of topic. I also didn’t like how hard it was to follow and I sometimes had a hard time visualizing what was going on.
I would not recommend this to anyone older than me. The reason I feel this way is because it is a kid style book and the humor would make a kid laugh not an adult. It is also made for the type of person that does not like books so you can relate to the characters better. I think it is funny how they make a story for people that don’t like a book in book form.
I liked some things and disliked some things in this book. Some things I liked were the author’s creative imagination and descriptions of Connors hell. It was basically a library with lots of other things he didn’t like and I thought it was great how it was described. I didn’t like how it tried to get a laugh out of everything even when it wasn’t a funny area of topic. I also didn’t like how hard it was to follow and I sometimes had a hard time visualizing what was going on.
I would not recommend this to anyone older than me. The reason I feel this way is because it is a kid style book and the humor would make a kid laugh not an adult. It is also made for the type of person that does not like books so you can relate to the characters better. I think it is funny how they make a story for people that don’t like a book in book form.
February 11, 2015
In Hellbent, Connor O'Neil is in hell and tries to prove it to you by telling you that when chasing his dog he got run over by an ice cream truck.If someone told he was in hell would you beleive him?One of the reasons that Conor O'Neil is indeed in hell is by describing his horrible soroudings of books and boring radio program's."I turn step out into the road then i see it the horror i am about to be squished by an ice cream truck".Another reason that he is in hell i that he is going to be a virgin for the rest of his life."I'm sixteen years old and still a virgin".Therfore Conor O'Neil is in hell.
Connor O'Neil meets a naked angel that tells him that his hell could be somebody else's heaven so he is trying to switch hell's people why would he change hell's.If i told you could change a hell into your heaven would you stay in hell or go to your heaven?One reason Conor should change his hell is because he would give away his hell to somebody who likes it."This is it my heaven my evereything here i come".Another reason Conor should change his hell is because he could get good karma and have a new improved life."If i give my hell to that guy well i'm doing a favor to god so i might get a second chance in life.Therfore Conor should change his hell into a heaven.
Kamil Sebti
Connor O'Neil meets a naked angel that tells him that his hell could be somebody else's heaven so he is trying to switch hell's people why would he change hell's.If i told you could change a hell into your heaven would you stay in hell or go to your heaven?One reason Conor should change his hell is because he would give away his hell to somebody who likes it."This is it my heaven my evereything here i come".Another reason Conor should change his hell is because he could get good karma and have a new improved life."If i give my hell to that guy well i'm doing a favor to god so i might get a second chance in life.Therfore Conor should change his hell into a heaven.
Kamil Sebti
September 27, 2014
Friday 26 2014
Conor O'Neil is in hell.He was chasing his dog, Scrote when all of a sudden got runover by an ice cream truck.If someone told you he was in hell would you beleive him?One reason that Conor is indeed in hell is because he's stuck in a corner with a bunch of bookshelves full of boring subjects and a boring radio program."I was stuck i a corner wich was specially designed with bookshelves and draining radio programs."Another reason that he is indeed in hell because he is sixteen and is still a virgin."How old am I i'm 16 and still a virgin."Therefore Conor is indeed in hell.
Conor O'Neil can exchange hell's with someone's heaven and vice versa.If I told you you can exchange hell into heaven would you beleive me?One reason that Conor wants to exchange hell's is because he can play video games in the other person's hell."There it was the new playstaion 2 waiting for me to play modern war fair."Another reason Conor wants to exchange hell's is because there are girls that like him very much."Here is my chance to become mature I'm ready."Therefore Conor wants to exchange hell's.
Conor O'Neil is in hell.He was chasing his dog, Scrote when all of a sudden got runover by an ice cream truck.If someone told you he was in hell would you beleive him?One reason that Conor is indeed in hell is because he's stuck in a corner with a bunch of bookshelves full of boring subjects and a boring radio program."I was stuck i a corner wich was specially designed with bookshelves and draining radio programs."Another reason that he is indeed in hell because he is sixteen and is still a virgin."How old am I i'm 16 and still a virgin."Therefore Conor is indeed in hell.
Conor O'Neil can exchange hell's with someone's heaven and vice versa.If I told you you can exchange hell into heaven would you beleive me?One reason that Conor wants to exchange hell's is because he can play video games in the other person's hell."There it was the new playstaion 2 waiting for me to play modern war fair."Another reason Conor wants to exchange hell's is because there are girls that like him very much."Here is my chance to become mature I'm ready."Therefore Conor wants to exchange hell's.
June 15, 2009
This book BLEW MY MIND. I had just finished Henry Tumour (one of McGowan's books, which now I realise featured a cameo from the main character of this book!), which I thought was pretty amazing, and I decided to read this and it's even better!!
Hellbent is the story rebellious teenager Conor's (and his loveably mangy pet dog, the aptly named Scrote) untimely demise and journey to Hell, which, in a desperate struggle against demons, devils and other mindless tormentors, he tries to escape to a better place. McGowan humorously writes about Hell in all its terror, with disgustingly funny descriptions of all kinds of misery and woe, along with a whole lot of poo. But, like Henry Tumour, inbetween the hilarity, horror and sadness, lessons about life, death and being good are sandwiched in, challenging the reader's view of the world and their own existence.
The ending was only very slightly unbelievable and abrupt, but I wouldn't have had it any other way, and the last bit of the epilogue made me laugh out loud!
All in all, this book is absolutely fantastic. Read it!
Hellbent is the story rebellious teenager Conor's (and his loveably mangy pet dog, the aptly named Scrote) untimely demise and journey to Hell, which, in a desperate struggle against demons, devils and other mindless tormentors, he tries to escape to a better place. McGowan humorously writes about Hell in all its terror, with disgustingly funny descriptions of all kinds of misery and woe, along with a whole lot of poo. But, like Henry Tumour, inbetween the hilarity, horror and sadness, lessons about life, death and being good are sandwiched in, challenging the reader's view of the world and their own existence.
The ending was only very slightly unbelievable and abrupt, but I wouldn't have had it any other way, and the last bit of the epilogue made me laugh out loud!
All in all, this book is absolutely fantastic. Read it!
November 16, 2015
The premise sounded fun so I tried the book. There is about the content of ten pages padded out with bodily functions, excrement and apparent Tourette's. I would not have enjoyed it at any age.
For instance there's a paragraph listing all the bad language used by sixteen year old boys, though the book is clearly aimed at eight year olds. It's not that I cared about the language so much, I just wanted to get on with the heavily padded story. By about halfway I'd given up.
The main character is entirely self interested and his motivations are selfish, and when he early arrives in Hell he is condemned to sit among philosophy books listening to classical music, eating sewage, with a dog who despises him. The synopsis caught my attention as the boy decides to try swapping with someone whose idea of hell would be his heaven. While the read didn't suit me, the tale may interest some kids, and anything that gets kids reading is good.
For instance there's a paragraph listing all the bad language used by sixteen year old boys, though the book is clearly aimed at eight year olds. It's not that I cared about the language so much, I just wanted to get on with the heavily padded story. By about halfway I'd given up.
The main character is entirely self interested and his motivations are selfish, and when he early arrives in Hell he is condemned to sit among philosophy books listening to classical music, eating sewage, with a dog who despises him. The synopsis caught my attention as the boy decides to try swapping with someone whose idea of hell would be his heaven. While the read didn't suit me, the tale may interest some kids, and anything that gets kids reading is good.
November 1, 2007
This book was very fun to read. Connor gets run over by a ice cream truck and his dog die along with him because he choked on the sprinkles of the ice cream. They end up in Hell, and Connor tells us more and more about the things he did on Earth to make him deserve Hell. He goes on a adventure with his dog, his personal devil and the viking, Olaf. He goes out to find a person the exact opposite of him, so they can swap places. He has to go through many challenges. At the end, his devil betrayed him, and it turns out that he had something to do with their plan of killing his soul for energy.
This was a very entertaining book. It has a lot of humor as Connor narrate the story. The language was pretty informal but it include a okay amount of vocabulary. I liked this book because it made me think about Hell.
This was a very entertaining book. It has a lot of humor as Connor narrate the story. The language was pretty informal but it include a okay amount of vocabulary. I liked this book because it made me think about Hell.
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July 18, 2017Sent to Hell for typical teenage misdemeanours, Conor is surprised to find that it's not all pitchforks and leaping flames. But an eternity in a fusty cave full of philosophy books and obscure classical music is actually worse. Then Conor realizes that his personal version of Hell might be someone else's idea of Heaven - and vice versa. He sets out on a filthy, funny and forbidden journey to search for his opposite number, accompanied by his repulsive pet dog, a depressed cross-dressing Viking and a stumpy devil called Clarence. What he sees is disgusting and what he discovers is shocking, but oddly enough Conor learns a hell of a lot about life - now that he's dead!
March 10, 2008
Wow. What a funny, disgusting, moving book. Our hero, 15 year old Conor is in Hell, trying to find a way out with the help of his misanthropic dog, a demon and a Viking cross-dresser. The writing is truly brilliant, just be forewarned hell (and Conor's life) is described in full, horrific, gross detail. If you're the least bit squeamish you may want to skip it. I personally found it worth the counterbalance of dark humor, philosophy and action. I'll be looking for more by McGowan in future.
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January 24, 2011This book was interesting. It talks about this person who is ran over by an ice cream truck and and someone he was sent to hell(haha the Inferno). There he meets some beautiful angel and he is told that someone's hell is his heaven. So he decides to swap with an old man. In the end i think he reincarnates. But this book is good and was recommended to me by Justine (:
February 20, 2011
A gem of a novel aimed at teens, McGowan’s Hellbent is both clever, sharp and disgustingly funny, drawing influences from Jonathan Blithe's law of the playground and no doubt his on pubescent experiences. The toilet humour and strong language may be a little on the strong side for some readers however.
June 23, 2011
It was nt exaclty a cliff hanger, although some might argue that it was. It was highly satisfying, very gory and yet very refelctive and philosophical. I though it was a magnificent peice of conjormanship, pardon my use of the word and its spelling. Its a work of pure magic, the author really knows how to satisfy the reader, and make the reader want to know more
September 9, 2012
This teen novel combined philosophy and thoughts on the human condition with monumental amounts of poo! The main character is in Hell having been killed by an ice-cream van. Dante was never like this but I suspect McGowan is more entertaining.
August 9, 2009
Teen read with adolescent male humor on the surface, but serious theological questions underneath. A very quirky British book.
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July 23, 2011Really funny and creative!
July 15, 2014
Quirky, funny, slightly demented and utterly revolting. In other words, right up my street.
May 9, 2015
This book is really funny and good.
July 21, 2015
A funny entertaining read yet thought provoking. It made me question what the purpose of life is while staying light hearted about the philosophy of it all.
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November 26, 2018Seriously one of the funniest books I have ever read. I can't forget that fart scene. It was majestic.
August 18, 2020
Crass, but cleverly written
July 3, 2024
This book is my go-to read when I am feeling down on life.
Connor is an unfortunate 15 year old who ends up in Hell after being hit by an ice cream truck and being 3 lies over the acceptable limit. He's trapped in a boring room full of classical literature and boring radio shows plus a bathroom with increasingly awful variants of toilet paper (hedgehog on a stick, anyone?).
Naturally, for a 15 year old boy this really is Hell, so enlisting the aid of his personal tormentor- a new demon named Clarence- Connor sets off to find a new part of Hell to live in. Together with his very sweary dog who also died in the ice cream truck incident, they traverse Hell in all its disgusting shit filled glory.
McGowan puts his philosophy degree to good use writing this novel, with plently of deep debates thrown into the narrative along with some fun classics facts about ancient Greece that readers might enjoy. I'm not ashamed to say that this book taught me the word "catamite" as a teenager! McGowan has an amazing writing style, frequently breaking the forth wall and talking to the reader in his cheerful narrative. He weaves fantastic side stories into the plot through Connor's internal monologue and this never feels clunky or out of place, it flows perfectly and although some of the stories seem odd they do eventually all end up being entirely relevant!
The author clearly knows teenage boys because this is a rare example of an adult writer writing teenagers how they actually are- sweary, obsessed with bodily functions, too horny to function and inevitably very easily led.
Connor is an unfortunate 15 year old who ends up in Hell after being hit by an ice cream truck and being 3 lies over the acceptable limit. He's trapped in a boring room full of classical literature and boring radio shows plus a bathroom with increasingly awful variants of toilet paper (hedgehog on a stick, anyone?).
Naturally, for a 15 year old boy this really is Hell, so enlisting the aid of his personal tormentor- a new demon named Clarence- Connor sets off to find a new part of Hell to live in. Together with his very sweary dog who also died in the ice cream truck incident, they traverse Hell in all its disgusting shit filled glory.
McGowan puts his philosophy degree to good use writing this novel, with plently of deep debates thrown into the narrative along with some fun classics facts about ancient Greece that readers might enjoy. I'm not ashamed to say that this book taught me the word "catamite" as a teenager! McGowan has an amazing writing style, frequently breaking the forth wall and talking to the reader in his cheerful narrative. He weaves fantastic side stories into the plot through Connor's internal monologue and this never feels clunky or out of place, it flows perfectly and although some of the stories seem odd they do eventually all end up being entirely relevant!
The author clearly knows teenage boys because this is a rare example of an adult writer writing teenagers how they actually are- sweary, obsessed with bodily functions, too horny to function and inevitably very easily led.
May 21, 2024
Im 24 now but I remember reading this when I was 13. I would give it a five out five from memory.
This book is for children, but the premise sounded interesting - usually children's books don't have too much effort on their plots and the swearing and language from what I remember really pandered to me as something "cool". I am an avid book reader as an adult now and I could still remember how the feeling of finishing this book had on me as well as going through the plot twists.
I think people who read this book as an adult wouldn't be too impressed now, but as a kid I was. Although, I am ten years late I would still love to give a review because it really stuck to me. For nostalgia's sake I would pick this book up again.
This book is for children, but the premise sounded interesting - usually children's books don't have too much effort on their plots and the swearing and language from what I remember really pandered to me as something "cool". I am an avid book reader as an adult now and I could still remember how the feeling of finishing this book had on me as well as going through the plot twists.
I think people who read this book as an adult wouldn't be too impressed now, but as a kid I was. Although, I am ten years late I would still love to give a review because it really stuck to me. For nostalgia's sake I would pick this book up again.
August 21, 2019
Over all I found this book extremely difficult to read. I know that it was written in a different english than my own, but I feel that the author used an absurd amount of slang words. Over time these words and phrases began to feel unnecessary and just made me dislike the book more.
The characters were bland and one sided and I felt that there was no development through out the story. Near the end of the story it felt as thought the character did a complete 180 and turned into a different person, which did not fit with the rest of the story. Than at the end of the book he reverts back to who he was at the beginning. IT felt very rushed and unorganized.
The plot line was even more pitiful than the characters. The author tried following a plot, but in the end was left with a jumbled mess. The main character went off on so many tangents that at times I wasn't really sure what I was reading. I also found my self skipping over them in order to get back to the actual story. They were extremely long ways of trying to show who the character was, but in the end just made we want to put the book down. The concept of the story was there and the small world building that it did have was good and that is why I am giving this book 2 stars instead of 1.
The characters were bland and one sided and I felt that there was no development through out the story. Near the end of the story it felt as thought the character did a complete 180 and turned into a different person, which did not fit with the rest of the story. Than at the end of the book he reverts back to who he was at the beginning. IT felt very rushed and unorganized.
The plot line was even more pitiful than the characters. The author tried following a plot, but in the end was left with a jumbled mess. The main character went off on so many tangents that at times I wasn't really sure what I was reading. I also found my self skipping over them in order to get back to the actual story. They were extremely long ways of trying to show who the character was, but in the end just made we want to put the book down. The concept of the story was there and the small world building that it did have was good and that is why I am giving this book 2 stars instead of 1.
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March 9, 2013I was intrigued by the thought experiment that one person’s hell might be someone else’s heaven. New to hell teenager Conor, who is being punished with classical books and music, wants to swop place with an intellectual homosexual who might enjoy these things and be punished by mediocre mass media and women. Though, I doubt that a gay guy will feel punished by the sheer presence of ladies when his real interest is into men. However, I did find a good share of sophisticated discussion on what hell is or might be.
While reading I kept asking myself what the age of the target reader is supposed to be. Spending a lot of time in pee, poo, and puke I guessed the book must have been written for a readership aged 9 to 12. The colorful comic cover illustration and the publisher by definition suggest the same. But as the torture turns from bad to worse and is all too detailed described, I decided that the book has to be rated “over 18”. Now I really wonder what the “unsuitable for younger readers” on the back stands for.
Well, I do understand that this book is aiming at male readers. Anyhow, I turned into a devil when I came to the point where Conor remembers how in life he once had a fight with (wouldn’t it be more honest to write: against?) a guy. He calls his opponent a “big girl” and that moment I totally agreed that Conor deserves hell and worse for the rest of eternity. I am fed up with “girl” being used as a swearword. Sorry, no stars for gender wars.
While reading I kept asking myself what the age of the target reader is supposed to be. Spending a lot of time in pee, poo, and puke I guessed the book must have been written for a readership aged 9 to 12. The colorful comic cover illustration and the publisher by definition suggest the same. But as the torture turns from bad to worse and is all too detailed described, I decided that the book has to be rated “over 18”. Now I really wonder what the “unsuitable for younger readers” on the back stands for.
Well, I do understand that this book is aiming at male readers. Anyhow, I turned into a devil when I came to the point where Conor remembers how in life he once had a fight with (wouldn’t it be more honest to write: against?) a guy. He calls his opponent a “big girl” and that moment I totally agreed that Conor deserves hell and worse for the rest of eternity. I am fed up with “girl” being used as a swearword. Sorry, no stars for gender wars.
May 28, 2014
Review: Conor ONeil dies and goes to hell. There he finds that hell is a mix of hells for different people. His hell, with him being a teenage boy into all the stereotypical teenage boy things, is to be surrounded in a room with classical music and heavy books. Hacking into a computer then leads Conor to find there’s someone whose hell is his heaven. with his pet dog who comes along as part of a new initiative, and Clarence, the demon who was assigned to oversee his eternal punishment, he sets out to find that someone.
I picked this up in a shop and started reading it. It wasn’t a great start, but the concept was very interesting.
It’s definitely for people who find humour in stereotypical teenage boys’ views of sex, excrement and such. A lot of Conor’s narration revolves around it, which is fair enough, considering where they are, but sometimes it gets in the way a bit.
It’s a very chatty book. Conor is talking directly to you, telling you all about his life, and his death.
The characters were all exaggerated for comic effect. I particularly liked the Café Valhalla, where Vikings are put in as waiters and forced to form a string quartet. Conor isn’t the most engaging character for me, but some may like him more than me.
Overall: Strength 3 to a very different interpretation of Hell that may be enjoyed more by people with different senses of humour
I picked this up in a shop and started reading it. It wasn’t a great start, but the concept was very interesting.
It’s definitely for people who find humour in stereotypical teenage boys’ views of sex, excrement and such. A lot of Conor’s narration revolves around it, which is fair enough, considering where they are, but sometimes it gets in the way a bit.
It’s a very chatty book. Conor is talking directly to you, telling you all about his life, and his death.
The characters were all exaggerated for comic effect. I particularly liked the Café Valhalla, where Vikings are put in as waiters and forced to form a string quartet. Conor isn’t the most engaging character for me, but some may like him more than me.
Overall: Strength 3 to a very different interpretation of Hell that may be enjoyed more by people with different senses of humour
October 20, 2013
"The toilet humor is interspersed with philosophy, believe it or not, which is very interesting. Imagine swinging from a scene about a butt-nipping creature lunging up out of a toilet bowl to one in which two characters discuss how to live a good life. Conor's devil companion tells him how to do it, but I realized after I'd slept on it that since that devil was a known liar, we probably can discount any advice he has to give.
Hellbent is witty and thought provoking. I liked the ending. However, as I was wading through page after page of...well, you know...I was wondering what was the point of the over-the-top and pretty revolting fecal humor. Was it there to make the philosophical points more palatable to teenage boys? If so, I think that if the author had cranked down the intensity a bit, he would have achieved the same result and kept a lot more readers over the age of seventeen as well."
Excerpt from Original Content.
Hellbent was a Cybils nominee in 2006.
Hellbent is witty and thought provoking. I liked the ending. However, as I was wading through page after page of...well, you know...I was wondering what was the point of the over-the-top and pretty revolting fecal humor. Was it there to make the philosophical points more palatable to teenage boys? If so, I think that if the author had cranked down the intensity a bit, he would have achieved the same result and kept a lot more readers over the age of seventeen as well."
Excerpt from Original Content.
Hellbent was a Cybils nominee in 2006.
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